Attorney
General John Ashcroft at Operation Pipe Dreams news conference.
Appearing from left to right: Acting DEA Administrator John B. Brown,
ONDCP Director John Walters, and U.S. Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan.

WASHINGTON,
DC -- Attorney General John Ashcroft and Acting DEA Administrator John
B. Brown, III today announced the indictment of 50 individuals on charges
of trafficking in illegal drug paraphernalia. The charges are the culmination
of two nationwide investigations code-named Operation Pipe Dreams and
Operation Headhunter and include indictments against national distributors
of drug paraphernalia and businesses nationwide. DEA offices in Boise,
Idaho; Des Moines, Iowa; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; and Dallas and Tyler,
Texas were involved in these investigations.

"With
the advent of the Internet, the illegal drug paraphernalia industry has
exploded," Ashcroft said. "The drug paraphernalia business is
now accessible in anyone's home with a computer and Internet access. And
in homes across America we know that children and young adults are the
fastest growing Internet users. Quite simply, the illegal drug paraphernalia
industry has invaded the homes of families across the country without
their knowledge. This illegal billion-dollar industry will no longer be
ignored by law enforcement. Today, the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement
Task Force, under the leadership of Deputy Attorney General Larry Thompson
and Associate Deputy Attorney General Karen Tandy, has taken decisive
steps to dismantle the illegal drug paraphernalia industry by attacking
their physical, financial and Internet infrastructures."

The
defendants have been charged with conspiracy to sell and offering to sell
various types of drug paraphernalia, in violation of 21
U.S.C. Sections 846, 853 and 863.
Federal law defines drug paraphernalia as those products that are primarily
intended or designed to be used in ingesting, inhaling or otherwise using
controlled substances, and include user-friendly and dealer-friendly devices.
Items such as miniature scales, substances for "cutting" or
diluting raw narcotics, bongs, marijuana pipes, roach clips, miniature
spoons and cocaine freebase kits, among other things, are all considered
drug paraphernalia.

All
the defendants knowingly, intentionally and unlawfully sold the items
for use with illegal narcotics. Many of the items were disguised as common
objects such as hi-liters and lipsticks to elude detection as drug paraphernalia
and were marketed using code names and symbols.

"People
selling drug paraphernalia are in essence no different than drug dealers,"
said Acting Administrator Brown. "They are as much a part of drug
trafficking as silencers are a part of criminal homicide. These criminals
operate a multimillion dollar enterprise, selling their paraphernalia
in headshops, distributing out of huge warehouses, and using the worldwide
web as a worldwide paraphernalia market. With Operations Pipe Dreams and
Headhunter, these criminals are out of business and 11 illicit dot.coms
are dot.gone."

"Each
of us standing here today took an oath of office to uphold and enforce
our nation's laws," said John P. Walters, Director of National Drug
Control Policy. "The aggressive marketing of the tools and paraphernalia
of drug use is illegal and has been an active affront to the efforts of
parents, educators, and community leaders who are trying to help young
people stay away from dangerous drugs. Today's actions send a clear and
unambiguous message to those who would poison our children: We will bring
you to justice, and we will act decisively to protect our young people
from the harms of illegal drugs. I applaud the hard work of the Justice
Department, the U.S. Attorneys, and the Drug Enforcement Administration,
who have provided an important and welcome boost to our drug prevention
efforts, and reaffirm the truth that no community, no city, no state,
and no nation is better off with more drug use."

Federal
law provides for a maximum total sentence of three years in prison, a
fine of $250,000, or both, with respect to each count set forth in the
indictments.

OPERATION
PIPE DREAMS

The
investigation leading to the indictments in this case was led by the Drug
Enforcement Administration and the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task
Force, along with the U.S. Marshals Service, U.S. Customs Service, U.S.
Postal Inspection Service, Immigration and

Named in the indictments
announced today are 17 individuals who operated 10 national distribution
companies of drug paraphernalia.

The following persons
operated six businesses based in California:

Melkizian
operated Omnilounge L.L.C. which also did business over the internet as
omnilounge.com.

Patrick
was charged as the operator of California Colorchangers, which did business
as colorchangingglass.com.

Teurfs, Vrbas
and Watson operated another internet company named 101north.net, which
also did business as 101 North Glass and The Glass House.

Yanow has
been indicted for running puffpipes.com, which also did business as Hot
Comet Enterprises and Atmospheres Lifestyles of L.A.

Struble and
Walker were charged with operating aheadcase.com, also known as Headcase.

Zahriya and
Zahrieh were indicted in conjunction with their operation of the Sands
of Time and its successor business, Wicked Corporation.

The individuals
who ran the four other national operations charged were:

Rothschild did
business under all of the names listed above, and Gothic Dungeon in Columbia,
SC;

Rakine operated
A&E Wholesalers in Pembroke Pines, FL.;

C Stone, Stone and
Rodgers ran Stone Artworx in Phoenix, AZ.; and

Harris and Mohtadi
owned Jerome Baker Designs and the other companies in
Eugene, OR.

Regional Retail Shops

Ten individuals who sold drug paraphernalia in retail shops in the Western
District of Pennsylvania also face charges of conspiracy, offering for
sale, and selling drug paraphernalia. The defendants in Pennsylvania are:

The DEA resident office in Des Moines, Iowa, initiated an investigation
into the sale and distribution of drug paraphernalia at headshops in
Southern Iowa in January 2000. Federal search warrants executed at four
such businesses in Iowa resulted in the seizure of more than $2 million
in drug paraphernalia. The searches also implicated various national
distributors, including four companies indicted today.

The investigation
leading to the indictments in this case was led by the DEA, along with
the U.S. Marshals Service, U.S. Customs Service, U.S. Postal Inspection
Service, U.S. Secret Service, Polk County (Iowa) Sheriff's Office and
the Des Moines (Iowa) Police Department.

The individuals
named in the four indictments brought in the Southern District of Iowa,
announced today, include: